Seattle Sounders FC Forward Raúl Ruidíaz Voted MLS Player of the Week
NEW YORK
(Monday, August 24, 2020)
– Seattle Sounders FC forward Raúl Ruidíaz was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for the sixth week of the 2020 MLS season.
Ruidíaz helped Seattle to a 3-0 defeat over Cascadia rival the Portland Timbers on Sunday at Providence Park with a brace and an assist. With four regular season goals this season, Ruidíaz is tied for fourth in the race for the 2020 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi. Seattle sits tied for second in the Western Conference standings with 11 points (3-1-2 overall record).
The two teams were scoreless well into the second half before Ruidíaz gave Sounders FC a 1-0 lead in the 72
nd
minute with a right-footed shot from inside the box that hit the crossbar and snuck into the top left corner (
watch goal
). Ruidíaz extended Seattle’s lead to 2-0 in the 83
rd
minute when he fought off a defender in the box and sent a close-range right-footed chip over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net (
watch goal
).
The Peru National Team standout then registered his first assist of the season on Kelvin Leerdam’s 85
th
minute goal, setting up the defender for a clear shot in the box (
watch assist
). The brace was Ruidíaz’s fourth in his MLS regular season career.
Seattle continues action this week on Wednesday, August 26 when facing the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park (11 p.m. ET, UniMás / TUDN) and on Sunday, August 30 when hosting the Los Angeles Football Club at CenturyLink Field (10 p.m. ET, FS1).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while a Twitter fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
